Grief
by Demonlord5000
Summary: Eve tries to help Claudette move past her grief. Takes place after Cold.


Claudette lay silently upon the cold stone ground, tears silently running down her face. Nothing could cheer her up, not even when Fleet had come by to console her. How could she smile, be happy when her own stupidity resulted in her dad's death? Her mom and her own brothers tried several times to get her to come outside to no avail.

"Uh... Sis?" Oh, speak of the devil.

"Come on Claudette, let's go play." Runt asked quietly.

"Go away..." The she wolf whimpered.

"C'mon Claudette." It was Stinky speaking. "There's no use sitting in the den crying all day."

"Leave her." Grandma Eve?

"But Grandma! She's been sitting in here crying for weeks! Can't we just-" He was cut off by Ece's growl.

"Everyone deals with grief in their own way. For some, their grief may pass quickly, for others like Claudette, it is not as simple as waiting. You two, go outside and play."

"But-" A snarl sent the two cubs running. Never make Grandma Eve angry, no matter who you are. It may be the last thing you ever do. The elder wolf lay down beside Claudette, nuzzling her.

"Please talk to me."

"It's all my fault..." The cub whimpered. Eve shook her head.

"No Claudette, it wasn't."

"How can you say that!? If I hadn't gone out into that stupid blizzard everything would be-" Eve held up a paw to silence her.

"Let me tell you a story. When Humphrey was a cub, there was a massive blizzard even bigger then the one you were in. During that blizzard, a young cub had gotten lost. When Humphrey heard, he selflessly charged into the blizzard, risking his own young life to save another cub whose name he didn't even know. When he finally found the cub, he brought her back to our den to keep her warm. He saved that cub's life." Eve smiled. "That cub was an orphan, your aunt Lilly." Claudette's eyes widened. "It was also the day we adopted Lilly, and Humphrey met your mom for the first time."

"He always put others before himself, and that's what he did for you that night. We all told him that it was too dangerous to go out into that blizzard, that he might not even make it back, but even your mother couldn't convince him to rethink going out to find you. To him, his precious little girl meant more to him than even his own life." Eve sighed. "He loved you dearly Claudette, because you reminded him so much of your mother. He did what he did because he wanted you to grow up happy, even if he knew he might not ever get to see it happen with his own eyes." She looked up. "But I may be wrong. Humphrey may be looking down on all of us right now with a smile on his face. All I know is, while there were times I wanted to strangle him till his eyes popped, or wanted to punch his lights out, or rip out his tongue and shove it up his-" She remembered who she was talking to. "A-anyway, I know Humphrey had a good heart, and he gave you and your brothers the love his parents never gave him."

"Huh? Why didn't dad's parents love him?"

"They were both Alphas... Extremely prideful Alphas. They weren't too happy about about their only child being an Omega. They used to beat and abuse him for the smallest things until Winston got fed up and banished them both from the pack."

"Did they hurt him in public!?"

"Oh yes. They didn't care who was watching. They truly felt that their abuse of him was right because they only thought of Humphrey as a disgrace."

"B-but dad was always so cheerful and-"

"Yes. We were all surprised that after being treated so horribly by his own parents, he was one of the most optimistic wolves this pack has ever seen." Claudette was stunned.

"I-I never knew dad's life was so rough."

"And he did everything in his power to make sure you and your brothers have had the best life he could possibly give you. I wouldn't go around wasting it." Claudette wiped her eyes, nodding.

"You're right Grandma. Dad would have wanted me to life to the fullest. I've gotta go beat my brother's furry butts at whatever game they're playing!" She bolted out of the den, stopping at the entrance to look up at the sky. "I love you dad." As she whispered that, a gentle wind blew, as if to caress her face. She smiled, and ran off to find her brothers.


End file.
